Tango no Efude
by Hitoshi-chan
Summary: Seven short theme challenges, and a glimpse into the life of Sai.


Okay, so please be nice to me. This bunch of drabbles was not planned at all, and also has no Beta. (because she is busy studying hard!) This is what I do instead of paying attention in my philosophy class. I was in a drabble mood, and thought I'd try out the whole themes deal. I'm not actually following any specific themes, but Kind of picking and choosing words that I feel like I can write about. All of these themes focus on Sai, although other characters make brief appearances in some.

Depending on my mood, and if people want me to, I may or may not write more of these, either based on Sai or anyone else.

Please tell me what you think! I love constructive criticism so fire away. Oh, and note I didn't really want to focus on any pairing, but if you squint really, really hard, you might see some Sai/Saku. It's up to the reader to interpret it as they please.

Disclaimer :I don't own it!

And last but not least, I would like to dedicate this fic to my own personal Sai, Konishi, without whom, I may have spontaneously combusted in the last few days, and also without whom this would not have been written. XP

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Snow. 

The first time he sees snow is with "him". They only have a brief amount of time to play before their mission is to be carried out. They occupy that time by pelting each other with handfuls of the stuff, as they have heard other children do. Two hours later their mission is complete and the snow is no longer white, but spotted with a deep, deep red.

They didn't really mind. All they could think about was the best-damned snowball fight they had ever had. 

Fire. 

He touches the brush softly to the page. Stroke after stroke, and the smell of wet ink fills the air. When he is done he puts his tools away and holds the piece of paper out for himself to see, just like all of the others. And like all of the others, he pulls it from his sketchbook, and tosses it into the fire, watching the flames slowly lick up the white and black until nothing but ashes remain. 

He just can't seem to get it right.  
Child. 

He behaves like a child.  
It is one of the first things he decides about Naruto. He comes to this conclusion not with frustration, or amusement, but as a fact.  
Later, he watches Naruto's eyes, and his facial expressions when he speaks of Sasuke. Hears his tone of voice, and feels the agonized aura.   
And he notes, Naruto is not a child.  
None of them really ever were. 

Picture. 

He has never been very fond of photographs. They catch only the shallow, only what can be seen on the surface, and most often they catch nothing of the truth. Unfortunately, the chapter on making friends in his self-help book repeats over and over again the important of preserving memories, and he can think of no other way to do so.

He examines the photo he had taken earlier that day.  
Naruto's classic grin is in place, and only slightly hindered by the swell of his right cheek.  
Sai remembers that Sakura had hit him only minutes before for one reason or another.  
Sakura on the other hand is not focused on the camera at all. Rather her mouth is open slightly, as if in mid-sentence, and she is pointedly glaring at Sai.  
He remembers her telling him that he's better, "give a real smile and not one of those stupid fake ones!"  
He looks at himself sandwiched between the two of them, looking somewhat lost and uncomfortable.  
He remembers wondering if this was a good idea after all. 

He thinks now, that it was.

Friend. 

They are a very unlikely duo that happened to meet in a set of completely normal circumstances. It's a wonder that everyone seems to regret their meeting.  
He first met Tenten on a casual day when he and Sakura had been sitting at Ichiraku, waiting for Naruto to show up. Sakura had introduced the two, and she had ended up joining them for lunch.  
No one had thought anything of it at the time, himself included.  
She 'seemed' completely normal. In fact, as the days, and then weeks passed by, and he found himself in her company more often, he actually began to appreciate her presence. She was a nice person to be around, and when she learned of his trouble with communicating with people correctly, she offered him her advice on situations. She even went out of her way to accompany him so that she might give him, hints and tips when he felt at a loss. (He still remembers the look of what must have been pleasant surprise etched on Ino's face when Tenten taught him how to politely reject her advances.)  
He also realized that she was much more comfortable around him then the others that he met, team seven excluded of course. She did not watch her words around him, as some did, and she gave him her opinion freely and bluntly, as, he noted, she did to anyone within hearing range. She teased him mercilessly, and even asked him for a spar every once in a while.  
He learned to enjoy her sporadic appearances, and to except whatever it was she had planned for him when she showed up. He had also learned it was impossible to tell her no.  
He's not sure when exactly he seemed to accept her presence as a part of his life, nor when he started to enjoy it, but when he wakes to her cooking breakfast, in _his_ house, and finds himself unsurprised, he suddenly realizes he has, and he couldn't imagine things any other way. 

He is also unsurprised to find that she had added a cup of wasabi to his orange juice, and wonders, as he hears her insane cackling, when exactly he adopted a sister, and where he can return her. 

He smiles to himself. 

He'll just paint her face the next time she is asleep.

Pain. 

The night after they find him, she cries silently for hours. She cries, and he is at a loss. She cries for a reason he cannot understand, and a pain he cannot feel. He says nothing, but sits up with her by the fire. Sometime during the late night when she is between tears she gives him a slight smile, and he wonders to himself what the small achy twinge he feels is when he meets her broken gaze.

Apple.

"You'll be fine, just don't move, kay?" She smiles brightly and doesn't give him time to answer or doubt, before he sees five silver streaks zipping through the air. It takes all of his will power to fight the instinct to dodge, (and he wonders a little about fighting that instinct) and for that split second as the streaks come closer to his head, he questions his sanity in being friends with her, let alone trusting her.

Then she's smirking, and reaching for the apple still resting on top of his head.

She tosses it to him, but the five senbon sticking out at odd angles make it awkward for him to catch.

He can't help but give her a small glance of admiration. She merely shrugs.

"I told you I never miss."

TBC…?

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Hope everyone liked it, and remember, reviews are friends! Oh, and just as a note, in case you missed it, the Tenten/Sai friendship, was completely just friends, so please don't interpret it any other way. ;


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